Flight to Freedom
by KKrasher
Summary: Ayamu Yoshikuni is a typical thug in the underground. Or as far as the term 'typical thug' goes. Her life takes a new path when she meets Levi, Isabel, Farlan, and Dorkbrows.
1. Chapter 1

Year 844 July 21st

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 **Hey readers! thanks a lot for reading this fanfic. It really means a lot to me. If you have any comment or criticism please leave a review. Again thanks for taking time out of your day to read this ;3**

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Ayamu's Pov

 _Today is the day I stole myself a 3DMG_. Ayamu thought. She'd seen two boys and a girl flying around in it. With it, they had one of the fastest ways of transportation. No wonder they were the best thieves in the city. Through her contacts and a bit of eavesdropping (ok, A LOT of eavesdropping, and pickpocketing) she was able to get a map of the train schedule, a diagram of the shipment and a list of the guards on the train and their weight and rank. Their weight would be to determine how much of the sleeping drug she would need and the rank would be to see if there was anybody on the train that was worth abducting and selling later. Ayamu checked her dart gun. It was one of the few luxuries that she had. It was actually a regular gun that she had stole from an MP officer that she outfitted with modified darts and a few power resistors to lower the fire power. Her target was the last car of the train. She had considered stealing the entire shipment by separating the car from the train but because of the guards surrounding the train that wouldn't be possible.

She aimed her gun at the head of the train, Aiming for one of the higher ranked officers. Her finger tightened on the trigger. Havoc broke loose among the officers. She fired a few more shots. When the MP was still distorted Ayamu slipped through the crowd and onto the last train car. With the MP gathered on the head of the train Ayamu quickly spied a few wooden crates sitting inside and something else on a shelf. When she went over she realized the 'something' was a container of gunpowder.

"Bingo" She muttered. Gunpowder these days was valuable. When she opened one of the crate lids inside were probably at least ten 3DMG. Ayamu swiped one, closed the lid and slipped the 3DMG under the cloak she was wearing. When the coast was clear, she slipped off the train car and started toward one of her hideouts.

"Hey, you!" a soldier shouted. Ayamu froze in her tracks

"What'cha doing out here?" the soldier asked. Ayamu glanced up at him and remembered the sheet of soldier info. Photographic memory was extremely helpful for swiping. Three doses of the sleeping drug, Ayamu remembered, Not worth abducting. She would try to lie her way out of this, Ayamu was extremely good at lying because she had studied human physiology in her free time. One of the good things about not letting the society know about your crimes. You could openly study in the city library.

"I was just heading to the library when I heard a commotion over here so I decided to check it out." Ayamu lied while putting on the face of innocence.

"Okay, Be on your way miss!" The soldier replied. _Seriously?_ Ayamu thought, _guards these days are so stupid they won't question the fact that a person is wearing a cloak._ Once Ayamu had reached one of her hiding places she put down the 3DMG and dart gun she was hiding under her cloak. When she checked her pocket mirror she wondered what aspect of her made her so believable and innocent. Was it the beads in her hair? Ayamu fingered them. Her hair in the front was really loose and messy and flew everywhere so she tied them and weighed them down with two beads on each side. Now, instead of hair flying in her face 24/7, the two locks stayed down. She personally thought the blue and yellow beads looked good on her hazel colored h, air.

A loud crash from outside jolted Ayamu from her daydream. Remembering some business she had on the other side of town she took off the cloak and slipped the dart gun in a secret compartment in her bag. Making sure the five blades that were hidden around herself were still there she started toward the other side of town.

When Ayamu walking she heard something over at the two boys and the girl's houses. From what she heard there were two people chasing the girl. Ayamu stopped and headed over to see what was going on. But by the time she got there the two thieves were dead. Feeling like something was up, Ayamu headed toward the house and climbed near a window. When she was still she heard somebody talking.

"...and a citizenship above ground." That caught Ayamu's attention. "All you have to do is lure the MP out. Except they won't be the MP. They will be the Survey Corps. Let them catch you but put up a fight. Erwin offers to let you in the Survey Corps when he offers that accept it. When you get to the surface steal a document that he has and if possible kill him, got it?"

"And then we get to live above ground?" the girl said. _For now, I'll just call her Hyper because she's hyper,_ Ayamu thought, _I'll make it easier for future plans._

"I'm fine," said the-other-guy.

"That's it? Sounds fishy" said Shorty, (Ayamu had decided his name much earlier)

"Yep," replied the guy-who-wants-Erwin-dead. (Ayamu gets pretty lazy about naming people.)

"Okay! I'm I," said Hyper hyperly.

"Good, I'll be going now." said guy-who-wants-Erwin-dead, and that guy walked out the door.

At that time a rough plan crossed Ayamu's mind. _First, master the 3DMG_. She thought, _ally up with those guys if possible. Then once I'm on the surface work up a rank and then make some real money by being a high-ranking contact on the surface._ Contacts in the military got paid quite a bit. A person would pay fortunes to get a high-ranking contact in the military.

But first, she had to master the 3DMG. Not thinking too clearly she walked past the window, then jumped down, then walked by the front door on her way to finishing what she set out for. Of course, one of the people in the house saw/heard her and walked out.

"Hey you," Shorty said in a deathly quiet voice "What was your business eavesdropping on us?" Ayamu knew this time, the odds we against her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **Hi, readers! Again, thank you soo much for reading this fanfic. I tried to make this chapter longer than the first one. I didn't realize how short it was until I saw the posted version. Turns out, 1000 words is** _ **A LOT**_ **less than I thought. Please leave a review and a like! It really means a lot to me!**

Year 844 July 21st

Ayamu's Pov

Ayamu saw three options, Fight, Stay, Run. Also a bunch of sub ones. Since she would try to be there ally later, she probably didn't what to threaten them with her dart gun. But on the other hand, Shorty is standing there with a knife pointed at her. He didn't look like he wanted to talk. So running was really the best option. He couldn't exactly report her either because he hadn't gotten a clear view of her face yet. Also, he himself was a wanted person so he couldn't just waltz into the government office to report her. So quickly and silently she replaced the ammo of her gun with a wad of paper (her hand was already in her pocket). In one swift moment, she took the gun from her bag and fired a shot behind Shorty. When he was turned around to check what she fired at, Ayamu turned and sprinted. It wasn't long before Shorty was hot on her trail. Except Ayamu knew all of the hiding places in the city. When she turned around a corner, she slipped into the door of a building and took out her dart gun that she pointed on at the door. If he was smart enough to check the door she would fire. Luckily, he didn't.

"Did you happen to see a girl with hazel hair pass here?" asked Shorty. _So he was checking around._ Ayamu though.

"Nope," said whoever Shorty was talking to.

"Tch, that brat," said Shorty. _Maybe I should change his name to Tch_. Shorty turned around and started heading back.

"Levi!" said the other guy. _Okay, so his name was Levi._ It was short, like him.

"Yeah Farlan?" said Levi.

"Did you find the eavesdropper?" asked Farlan.

"Nope, The brat just disappeared" replied Levi. It took all of Ayamu's willpower to not fire at his little short body.

"Well, that can't be helped." Farlan said with a sigh. Then Farlan and Levi walked off. _It's about time._ She thought. It was 3:27 and she was supposed to be in alleyway to meet  
her someone at 3:40.

"Well," said Ayamu, "I better get going." Ayamu pocketed her gun and, when the coast was clear, went outside and hurried to the alleyway. On the way, she took a bandana and covered her face with it. As an info. broker, she couldn't risk someone seeing her face. By the time she reached the alley, it was 3:37. She hid behind a stack of boxes and waited for her client.

"I'm assuming that you're there, Shadow Fox," said her client that had just arrived. Shadow Fox was Ayamu's code name.

"I am," Ayamu replied. "I heard you were paying 7 silver for info. concerning on a shipment of gunpowder."

"Yes," her client remarked, "I've heard of you being one of the best information brokers there were out there, and because of that I am assuming that you are here because you know what I want."

"The shipment will be of 4 boxes of 25. The train will arrive on the West Line on July 29th around noon. The shipment will mostly likely be in the last 4 train cars. Is that enough?" Ayamu said. She could tell that her client was not expecting a report that through.

"That's enough, and here are your 7 silvers." The client tossed a small drawstring bag with the seven coins in it. Ayamu took the coins out and tossed the bag back. The currency in the underground went like this; 10 bronzes equals a silver, 10 slivers equals a gold. The gold was actually rose golds but most people just simplified 'rose gold' to 'gold'. Plus, the coins were really old so instead of bronze, silver, and rose gold. They were more like rust, gray, and orange. Ayamu pocketed the coins and headed to her hideout. _Well,_ Ayamu thought, _that's two week's worth of food earned right there. Surviving in the underground is pretty easy once you know how._

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Year 844, July 25th

Ayamu's Pov

Ayamu woke up on a stack of her notes. She had been studying them all night. With a lot of researching and observing she had been able to figure out how a 3DMG worked, how the straps went, and etc. She had taken notes before she got her 3DMG, but was dismayed when she realized they had missed several key points.

"Finally," she muttered as she got up and picked up her notes. "I get actually get to trying the 3DMG out." Ayamu took her 3DMG and walked outside of her hideout. Her hideout was on one of the upper ledges of the underground cave. The only way someone could spot her is if they found a way to stick to the top of the cavern, and looked directly left of them. _Which,_ She thought, _would never happen, even if they did get up here I would see them first._ Ayamu picked up her 3DMG and began putting the straps on. After a bit of trial and error (and a lot of referencing back to her diagrams of how the straps were supposed to be put on.) she was able to get it on. She shot up the grappling hooks and tried balancing. _Turns out,_ Ayamu figured after a few tries, _The trick is to have control of your weight, then focusing on a spot and try not to make any unnecessary movements._ Within a few (actuality, six) hours Ayamu was able to get the basic gist of the 3DMG. She was a really fast learner. After that she went inside she took the 3DMG off and settled down on her floor. It was already 1:00. Ayamu got her bag and cloak for a little eavesdropping in town. When she walked out Ayamu stopped to look around.

"Well," she muttered to herself, "It's another normal day, at least, for me." and with that Ayamu headed off.

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 **I know it's weird to leave an author's note in the middle of a chapter but OMG, I just did a little research on when Erwin recruits Levi and the others, and I just learned that the animation director of AOT: No Regrets is Ayumi Yamada XD. Total coincidence. I promise I didn't do that on purpose.**

 **Ayumi Yamada (AY)**

 **Ayamu Yoshikuni (AY)**

 **I cannot get over this.**

Year 844, July 31st.

Ayamu's Pov

"Well, that was an easy five silver." said Ayamu, "Now to spend it all in the black market."

Sleeping drug was typically 1/2 silver for 2 doses, and gunpowder was 1 gold per can. Since all of the gunpowder and sleeping drug in the underground was either smuggled or stolen, it was only natural for it to be really expensive. Also, you could only get those deals in the black market, and that was all the reasons Ayamu needed to steal her gunpowder. For sleeping drug, they weren't too expensive considering Ayamu's income and a big hassle to get so she usually bought them.

Ayamu went around the corner to a nearby bar. Along the way, she took her bandana and wrapped it around her face. Anonymity was important in the black market. Especially for people that had a clean record in the government's view. When she walked in the bar she was greeted by cold looks. Ayamu sat down and the far end of the table and signaled the worker with her right hand. She wore a ring on that hand that was made out of obsidian and had an engraving of a fox on it. Recognizing her rank as the Shadow Fox, the worker leads her to a back room that had a tunnel leading to the black market. Without a word, Ayamu went down that tunnel and into a bustling place selling 3DMGs, high ranking officers, gunpowder and all sorts of illegal items.

"Ugh," Ayamu said, "This place _still_ smells like trash."

Ayamu was walking around not really looking for anything when she saw a stand selling paralyzing darts. She walked over to the stand.

"Hey," she asked the seller, "How much do these cost?"

"3 1/2 gold to fifty," replied the seller. Ayamu sucked in her breath. _So expensive!_ Then remembering a trick she casually put her right hand on the table. The seller's eye's widened when he realized that he was dealing with the Shadow Fox.

"Oh really," Ayamu sighed "Then that's too bad. I'll be going."

"Wait," that seller said abruptly, "I'll knock off ½ gold." Now that was a deal. That meant that each dart was around 6 bronzes.

"They're automatic I'm assuming?" Ayamu said. Automatic mean that the drug/poison would work within 10 seconds of admission.

"Yes, the poison starts working in 3 seconds then start traveling around. Within 30 seconds the person will be completely paralyzed." replied the seller.

"Okay," Ayamu tossed the 1 gold over. He slid a pack of darts over to Ayamu. Ayamu pocketed them. She didn't have much money left to do any more shopping in the underground so I went out through the tunnel that I came through.

When Ayamu burst out of the musty bar she walked until she was out of sight of the bar to untie the bandana that hid her face. She curiously observed the packet of paralyzing darts.

"Well, I guess I'm trying them out." Said Ayamu under her breath. She took out her dart gun and replaced the sleeping darts with the paralyzing ones. Then she put her dart gun in her bag.

Around that time Ayamu heard a lot of commotion going in the town square, _Probably a riot_ , she thought, _I should probably just scale the building with my 3DMG._ Riots usually ended as a massacre and Ayamu did not want to get caught up in that. What Ayamu didn't know was that the commotion wasn't a riot. It was the Survey corps and Levi's mini-gang. So when Ayamu took off her cloak revealing her 3DMG and shot the grappling hooks out, a Survey Corps officer saw her. The instructions the Survey Corp officers were given were 'to catch anybody in the underground that had a 3DMG without blades.'

"There's one of them! Catch her!" Ayamu heard. That's when she realized they were after her.

"Really?" Ayamu muttered. She pulled herself up and began scaling the building as quickly as she could using her 3DMG.

"If you wanted to pick a fight with the Shadow Fox you're in for a world of hurt." Her hand tightened on her dart gun as she pulled it out.

"Because" She aimed for the officer "I have a reputation to hold up." She pulled the trigger, seconds later the soldier began to stumble and eventually fell. _Looks like those paralyzing darts work really well._ Ayamu thought. She was confident that there was no way she would get captured. She was relaxed, feeling smug even. But panic rose inside her when at least 8 soldiers rose behind the buildings. She could handle 3 easily, 4 with a bit of pressure, 5 would be a tight escape, 6 with a bit of luck. But Ayamu could not handle 8 highly trained soldiers by herself. Not to mention more reinforcements were probably coming.

"I sure am glad I bought these paralyzing darts." said Ayamu.


	3. Chapter 3

**Year 844 July 31st**

 **Ayamu's Pov**

 **Sorry for not posting, I was really busy with homework and everything. I will be going back to my regular posting schedule. But here is Chapter 3! Please leave a review! ;3**

Immediately after the new soldiers appeared. Ayamu ducked into one of the many half destroyed buildings. As soon as she went through it and made sure a few soilers were in there, she collapsed the building with a previously placed bomb. Ayamu could feel herself going into battle mode. Senses on high alert, with adrenaline pumping through her veins.

"3 down, five to go," said Ayamu. She put at least a good 30 meters of distance between her and the soldiers before she saw them coming after her. Then she realized there were not five, but 3. _Turns out I overestimated the Survey Corps,_ Ayamu thought, _You don't need to know fancy maneuvers in order to kill titans._ She was going to finish them off with some close hand-to-hand combat when she heard a bullet whiz by her ear. Ayamu turned around to face at least 10 more Survey Corps officers. For a moment Ayamu thought she was dead. Until her hand wandered to a smoke bomb in her bag. When she bought it the seller had warned her that they were extremely unstable and should be used only as a last resort.

"Well, I don't have much of choice now" Ayamu muttered. She took it out and flung the bomb at the officers. It was only when she saw that the smoke was a dark purple that she remembered that they were _poison_ smoke bombs. _Well, that happened_ , she thought. She launched an anchor into a building quickly to get away from the poison gas. When she was safely away from the smoke, she ducked behind a building. Only to meet Erwin Smith, for a moment both of them just stared at each other until they realized what just happened. Then, Ayamu whipped out a dagger that she pointed at him.

"Aren't you one of the thugs in this city?" Erwin said.

"Maybe," Ayamu replied in a deathly cold voice. At that time 5 Survey corps members closed around them. _And now I'm surrounded,_ Ayamu thought. She tried to calculate her odds of getting out of this situation.

"It's 6 to 1 if you didn't notice," Erwin said matter-of-factly.

That's when Ayamu made her move to stab the nearest soldier. When the soldier fell down the other soldiers lunged to her. Taking out another dagger, she stabbed a soldier and kneed another in the stomach. The last two soldiers just kind of backed away from her, not wanting to share the same fate as the two soldiers that she took down. _I can handle three,_ she thought, _especially at close combat._

What she wasn't counting on was the fact that there was a _6th_ soldier behind her. So when that soldier delivered a blow to her head, instantly knocking her out, you could imagine how surprised she was.

"Well, that was bothersome. The others should be arriving with the rest of the thugs soon." Erwin said, checking his watch. (are there even watches in AOT?)

Line

When Ayamu woke up some 30 min later, she instantly tried to remember where she was. It wasn't until the soldier that was pinning her down dug his boot into her back that she realized that was pinned to the floor with her hands behind her back.

"So you're awake," Said Erwin who was in front of her. "I'll give you the same deal as I did with the others." _Others?_ , Ayamu thought, _I'm not in a gang._

"You can either join the Survey Corps and go to the surface or I'll turn you over to the Military Police." He continued. _This is_

"I'll join the Survey corps then." she said, "It's not like I have that much of a choice."

Ayamu really didn't, if she was turned over to the MP, they would gladly kill the source of their leaked information.

"Also, where did you learn to use the 3DMG like that?" Erwin asked, "Where you once part of the military?"

"I taught myself how to use a 3DMG and no, I have never had any personal connections whatsoever with the military," Ayamu replied. _Well, that's half of the truth,_ Ayamu thought, _I never had personal connections but I have had connections._

"Is it even possible to self-teach yourself how to use a 3DMG?" asked Erwin. _Look stupid,_ Ayamu thought yet again, _face it, there are smart people in the world._

"If you throw 100 people with 3DMGs outside the walls, is it possible for one to become really good at fighting titans? Like, assuming they _actually have minds?_ " Ayamu replied with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"That's not the point, the point is that you're coming with me to the surface." Said Erwin. _DENIAL,_ Ayamu thought, _you know it's the truth._

-line-

 **Year 844, July 31st.**

When Ayamu thought that there wasn't more to the deal, there was.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!" Ayamu nearly yelled/screamed in surprise.

"I mean you will be sharing a room with the other underground thugs," Erwin said all-so-formally. "Because no one else is willing to share the room with you guys." Ayamu decided to ignore the last part.

"First of all," Ayamu said, "It's not 'you guys'. I'm not in a gang with them. Second of all, how many other thugs did you capture?" _I might have killed one of them with a paper bullet,_ Ayamu thought, _I have killed people with paper bullets before._

"There were three of them if you were wondering," Erwin replied. _Thank god,_ she thought, _I was afraid that I would never see the light of day again. The three of them can fight pretty well._

"Well, I'll show you your room," Erwin said as he opened the door to the hallway. Ayamu followed him, not knowing what she should be feeling. She was about to share a _room_ with three other people that thought she previously tried to kill one of them. Maybe they didn't have weapons, if that was the case Ayamu could fight her way out. The Survey Corps were smart enough to leave behind her dart gun but was unaware to the other many blades she had. _Including that wire in my shoelace,_ Ayamu thought, _For picking locks._

"Hey," Erwin called into the room, "I'm coming in with your last roommate." Then he opened the door to a trio of very surprised/murderous-looking people.

"First of all," Ayamu said very quickly to the trio, "I shot a _paper_ bullet at you guys, and I wasn't aiming at anybody." Her remark was met with cold glares, except Hyper who just looked at her curiously.

"Tch," hissed Levi, "Did anyone tell you that you should introduce yourself before you talk to somebody?"

"Oh," Ayamu glared at Levi, "I'm Ayamu, Ayamu Yoshikuni."

"Hi! My name is Isabel," Said Isabel (Hyper) who just got up, "Isabel Magnolia. Nice to meet you!" Isabel put her hand out to shake but Ayamu declined. Ignoring that Isabel continued.

"That's Brother Levi," She said pointing at a glaring Levi, "And that's Farlan." She continued pointing to Farlan. Ayamu was surprised on how openly she talked to someone who fired at her. Also, her instincts were on the edge because she didn't know the layout of the Survey Corps HQ. Rule no. 1 of survival: Don't be in a place that you don't know like the back of your hand.

"I'm going out for a walk," Ayamu announced to the trio. _Because you guys are keeping me on the edge, and Levi looks like he's going to murder me._

When Ayamu walked out of the HQ she looks a minute to marvel at the open area. There was a never heard peaceful silence in the air. She climbed on the to of the building to get a rough idea of the layout. At least now she could calculate where the nearest exits were. Ayamu thought, _Well, this is what you wanted._


	4. Chapter 4

**Year 844, August 5rd**

 **Just a quick author's note before the chapter, thank you to all of the readers that who are reading this fanfic. Please leave a like and a review This chapter starts off in Ayamu's dream so I hope it wasn't all that confusing. It also gives some hints about her past.**

 _Ayamu rolled over to see the grimy cell she was in, the moss caked walls and the smell of blood hit her like a truck. Just as she did so, pain exploded all over her body like a thousand needles. It was almost to the point that she nearly missed the faint voices coming from the walkway._

" _We'll take the younger one first." A murderous voice said. Ayamu instantly reached for her sister fearing the worst. Her attempt to save her sister from her fate was meet with the sight of the man's ugly hands pick up her sister's body, which was limp from exhaustion and pain._

" _Michiyo!" Ayamu cried, "Give Michiyo back!" As soon as the words escaped from her mouth, the man slammed his foot against her, which made her fly across the room. When the wall broke her fall she felt her body go numb from the pain. All she could do was to cry for her sister, the last connection and hope she had left in this world._

" _Michiyo!" Ayamu cried again, "Michi-"_

Ayamu woke up with a start.

"Old nightmare," she muttered under her breath. "It's not like she's going to come back from the dead." Ayamu got up from her bunk that she shared with Levi. She didn't get so lucky with sleeping spots, Ayamu was hoping for Isabel because she was the one least likely to kill her in the middle of the night.

Ayamu climbed down the ladder on the bunk to the floor. The dorm was really clean because of Levi's obsession of cleaning. _Actually,_ Ayamu thought _, I would eat off the floor if I had too, but on the second note that wouldn't be a good idea because the food would taste like soap._ Ayamu made her way over to the drawer that held her bag. When she took it out she remembered that today was the day that she was going out on the expedition. Ayamu took out her compact mirror and checked her reflection. She took out the beads in her hair and tied her hair with her (really long) bracelet. Then, she took out her uniform and went into a corner to get changed. This routine was starting to rub off her since her normal morning routine usually involved shooting people.

Just around that time Levi and Farlan started to wake up. Isabel was a really deep sleeper so either Levi or Farlan woke her up. Ayamu quickly walked out the door before either of them could wake up. Just saying, Levi s not the kind of person Ayamu wanted to meet early in the morning. One the way to the dining hall Ayumu had the luck to run into Hange.

"Guess what Ayamu!?" Hanji said (practically yelled) in her crazy maniac voice.

"What?" Ayamu muttered half rolling her eyes.

"Did you know that if you killed a titan at an 180 degrees angle the titan's body will land at a 135 degrees angle!?"

"No, and quite frankly I don't care." With that Ayamu walked off to the dining hall.

"Wait, but…" Hanji (or hange idk) tried to continue.

"No, Just no.'

* * *

When Ayamu walked into the dining hall only a few people were there beside her. She grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down at her table. She took out a small booklet and started reading her notes on titan-killing. She and the trio had received lessons on how to kill titans and etc. but today she was going on an expedition and she wanted to make sure that she survived the experience.

"Hey, Ayamu!" Ayamu looked over to see Isabel running over to her table and yes, she and the trio shared a table. Ayamu wasn't happy about that but all of the other tables had been claimed.

"You do know that the expedition is today," said Farlan. The past few days he was less (what's the word?) suspicious of her but he was still wary of her presence.

"Yes, I do. And I hope the SP will give me back my gun, I've been dying to see if they work on titans." Ayamu said exasperatingly while checking her fingernails. The darts probably didn't because the titan's body system was different from a human's. _Ugh,_ Ayamu thought, _Another thing I should have asked the seller. Though he probably didn't know._

As usual, Levi sat down without saying much. The tension that was between them was so thick that you could cut it with a butter knife. Ayamu was silently hoping that she and the trio would be put in different groups, but seeing how things had been going so far the chances of something going her way was minuscule.

* * *

"Today we set forth on the First expedition!" Erwin shouted at the gate. Slowly the gate of wall Maria rose to reveal a doorway in the wall. At Erwin's signal, the Survey Corps rushed off into the outside world. Ayamu looked around her,

"Wow," she said. Her exclamation was responded with many other gasps of awe from the other people that had never been outside to walls. e endless blue sky seemed, even more, vast if that was possible.

"This is not the time to be dreaming everyone!" Somebody yelled to the Group. Ayamu did he said and started to go out in the formation that hey had practiced, And yes, she was with the trio.

"Nice weather today" farlan commented. Just as he said so, A titan appeared on the horizon.

"Um," Isabel sadi/squeaked "what's that?"

"Abnormal" Levi muttered. He fired a black flare and charged off to take down the titan. Ayamu, Isabel, and Farlan followed after Levi. Levi rose up on his saddle and shot an anchor into the titan's shoulder. Ayamu was still with fear for a moment by the sheer size of the titan. She knew how much 15 meters was and what a titan looked like but reality seemed more, imitating. Shaking off her fear Ayamu followed Levi and rolled underneath the titan to chop off its feet/legs. Isabel and Farlan helped by acting as a decoy and allowing Levi to kill the titan.

"Levi!" Shouted Erwin from the middle of nowhere. "Don't Waste so much gas or you'll use up all your gas before the expedition is over.!"

"Do you really expect me to prize the quality of my equipment over the lives of my comrades?" Levi yelled back. Ayumu was really surprised because that was the longest sentence that she had heard him say. (not including 'tch' or 'brat'). With that Levi rode off followed by Isabel, Farlan, ad Ayamu.

-Line-

It wasn't too long before a heavy fog started to collect around them. As far as Ayamu could tell, it was nearly impossible to ride without falling into a ditch and let alone spot titans at a distance that the titans couldn't smell/see her.

"I'm going to scout up ahead" Levi announced. " I'll be back in a minute." Ayamu was really starting to think that Levi was replaced by an alien. Levi rode ahead into the cloudy fog past until they couldn't see him anymore.

"Hey, Isabel," Ayamu said. "You've been unusually quiet."

"Ayamu, I just have a bad-" Isabel was interrupted when a titan plucked her off her horse. AYamu looked up to see the smiling face of a titan. Ayamu and farlan only watched in horror when Isabel was raised into the titan's mouth. Last minute, Ayamu broke out of her trance and shot and anchor into the titan's shoulder. While the titan was distracted by the anchor Ayamu brought her swords down on the titan's nape. Free of the titan's grip, Isabel began free-falling. Before Farlan could catch Isabel, Her fall was broken by another titan's mouth. Isabel's blood flew everywhere, coating the ground with red. In the corner of their eyes, Ayamu and Farlan saw Isabel's head fall to the ground. Before Ayamu or Farlan could comprehend what had just happened, the titan that ate Isabel turned his head to face Ayamu. Suddenly, another titan appeared from nowhere and brought it's hand down on the cords that held her to the dead titan. The anchors were forcefully pulled from the titan's back and the third titan sent her flying towards a tree. The last thing she remembered before she blacked out was a field of blood-red.


	5. Chapter 5

**Year 844, August 5th**

 **Levi's PoV**

* * *

 **Hi readers! Thank you all for reading up to this point. I never thought I'd get 250 views. Please leave a comment. Chap 5:**

* * *

When Levi started to head toward the group, he listened for the sound of titan's footsteps since he couldn't see anything through the heavy fog. He was satisfied when he heard nothing. _It's quiet,_ He thought. Then, quickly halting, _It's not quiet,_ He realized, It's deathly silent! I should at least heard hooves by _now!_ (such a weird word) Or at least Isabel talking! Levi instantly pulled his horse to a gallop.

Everything seemed to melt away when he broke into the blood bath. It took him about 0.2 seconds to register what had just happened while he was away. Anger boiled rat the two titans towering over the field of red. He instantly whipped out his blades and charged at the two titans. Everything was a blur to him, his body seemed automatic, whenever a titan tried to snatch him up he cut off the titan's fingers. Basically causing as much damage to the titan's as possible. Fury of losing his only friend charged him to mass-murder to the titans. Only when the two titans, chopped up into minuscule (kind of) pieces, did he stop long enough to see the field clearly.

When he passed by Ayamu, Levi thought she was dead like Isabel and Farlan because of the blood that surrounded her. Only when he saw the blood surrounding her evaporating did he realize that most of it was titan's blood. _Maybe she's still alive…,_ and with that glimmer of hope he rushed up to her. That's when he realized that she was still breathing. _Why did she have to be the one that survived?_ , Levi wondered, _couldn't have either Isabel or Farlan been the one that survived?_

* * *

 **Year 844, August 5th**

 **Ayamu's PoV**

When Ayamu woke up in the back of a wagon she is wondered where she was (again). Then remembering the titans she bolted up, only to see the fields and the sun a hour or two away from setting. In some way she realized that Levi had just probably saved her sorry life, and that Isabel was dead.

"Oh god," She sighed, "Farlan is going to absolutely reject me and Levi will totally kill me. So much for trying to be on good terms with those guys."

"So you're up!" Said a girl with shoulder-length hair on a horse. "You're Ayamu, right?

"Yep," Ayamu said, slightly startled at her voice. "and who are you?"

"Petra, Petra Ral."

"Oh," Ayamu studied her features. It looked like she was slightly younger than her so about 26-27.

"If you were looking for Levi he's in the front."

Ayamu was silent at that, she really didn't want to meet him now but if she didn't he might get mad at her and the last thing she wanted was an angry Levi after her.

"Ok, thanks Petra." Ayamu replied. With that Ayamu whistled for her horse, and her auburn mare came galloping up to her. She leap on her horse and headed toward the front of the group. Within a few minutes Levi was in sight. She silently rode up to him, dreading what might happen next.

"Thanks for saving me back there." Ayamu said, breaking the silence. She held her breath. _Please don't be angry, Let me live a few more days._

"I didn't have much of a choice." Levi replied, "though you were the last person I would have wanted alive in that squad." _21 words, Levi's record and I'm going to ignore the last bit._

"Oh," Ayamu said not knowing what else to say.

"What even happened back there anyway?" Levi said to her.

"Uh,*cough* well, a while after you left to scout up ahead a titan snatched Isabel and I killed that titan so Isabel was free-falling. Farlan tried to catch her but another titan got her first then a third titan threw me against a tree and I blacked out." Ayamu explained.

"How are you still alive anyway?"

"Luck I guess" Ayamu lied.

"Wall Maria is in sight!" Erwin called to the Survey Corps. His statement was met with sighs of relief from the exhausted soldiers knowing that soon they would would be safe inside the walls. Ayamu couldn't feel more delighted to see Wall Maria. Being outside of the walls brought back memories she rather forget. The soldiers pushed their already tired horse's to the wall. Ayamu looked back at the soldiers and couldn't help but think that they were a sore sight. Many of the soldiers were gravely wounded and leaning on someone else in order to walk. Beside being thrown against a tree, Ayamu was practically unscathed. She'd gotten of easy on the expedition.

While entering the gate of the wall, Ayamu couldn't help thinking that the rest of her life as a soldier was going to be this. Going on expeditions, fighting titans, risking her life, and that repeated over and over again.

The gates of wall Maria opened, and the Survey Corps tricked through. Ayamu couldn't help but feel disappointed at herself for letting herself grow soft on soldier life.

"From now on," She whispered under her breath, "I'll make sure I'll excell at this."

* * *

 **Year 844, August 19th**

 **Ayamu's PoV**

The next two weeks passed by in a blur. Ayamu later learned that Farlan had died after she had passed out.

"Great," she had said "now Levi has another reason to hate me." Everything was normal, or as normal as Hanji could be.

Now, to the present.

The sky was painted a dark blue when Ayamu woke up. She rolled over in her bed to face the wall of her shared dorm. Ayamu had woken up before Levi, as usual.

"I guess I have to get up now." she sighed. After getting dressed and doing her hair, Ayamu pushed open the wooden door of the dorm.

A piece of folded paper fluttered to the ground.

Out of curiosity, Ayamu picked it up.

"Dear Levi and Ayamu Yoshikuni:" It read. "Please report to the commander's office at 8am." Ayamu was slightly annoyed at the fact that Levi's name came before her's but she quickly overlooked that fact. She silently wondered why Erwin would call him to his office so suddenly.

"Well," Ayamu said "I've got 2 and a half hours to burn."

* * *

 **Year 844, August 19th,**

 **Ayamu's PoV**

Ayamu stood in front of the commander's office. She straightened up, and opened the door.

Only Erwin was inside.

Ayamu was confused for a moment. Where was Levi? Erwin had addressed the not to the both of them yet she was the only one there.

"Hey brat," Levi hissed behind her, "You're not the only one using the door."

Surprised at Levi's sudden appearance, Ayamu let go of the door she was holding open, and stumbled into Erwin's office. Both Levi and Ayamu lined up parallel to Erwin's desk. For a moment, silence filled the air.

Seconds later, the door opened and four Survey Corp members walked in, Ayamu wondered why Erwin would call all of them here. The four of them faced Erwin's desk.

"Looks like she's late." Erwin sighed, checking his watch. "I'll give her five more minutes." Just as he said so, Petra stumbled through the door.

"Oh my god!" Petra said, gasping for her breath, "I'm so sorry I'm late commander! You see, Hanji was talking about her latest discovery and I wanted to…"

"It's okay Petra," Erwin said, "Now we can go on with the meeting." Erwin turned to face the seven of them.

"I've decided to put together an elite squad of humanity's best soldiers", Erwin said, _More like a squad of wack-jobs. I think it's safe to say that because of Levi and me. Though Petra seems normal._

"I am here to tell you that all seven of you have been chosen for this opportunity." Erwin continued. _A.k.a Levi is awesome at killing titans and I'm just good. You let me on the team because you felt bad for us because you thought we would be torn because we lost Isabel and Farlan. In reality I'm pretty sure both of us would have been delighted to be on different squads._

"Levi," Erwin continued, "I appoint you as the leader of this squad, you can choose your second-in-command. Please inform me of your choice later today." _Ohhh, I see, playing favorites huh? Just because Levi's kill count is ONE more than mine doesn't mean anything. Besides, technically, my kill count is way higher than Levi's._

"You are dismissed." Erwin stated. Ayamu silently let out a sigh of relief. Meeting always put her on the edge. The Survey Corps members filed out the door. When Ayamu was alone she checked her pockets for her dart gun that she had recently swiped back. She was worried that someone might notice that the gun she put in it's place was a fake, or that the lock, on closer inspection, was missing a few minor parts. Tonight, marks the rebirth of the Shadow Fox.

* * *

 **Year 844, August 19th,**

 **Michiyo's PoV**

Michiyo stretched herself over the couch. She rolled over to pick up a case of money. She undid the clasp, and inside, was a stash of golden coins. She sliently counted the coins and with every coin the passed her hands, her mood went up a notch.

"One day of work done!" She exclaimed to herself. "Tomorrow I can get rid of this hideous wallpaper. Well actually, one more thing to do."

Michiyo got up from the couch and walked out of the door, along the way, swiping a knife into her pocket. Stepping out of lieutenant's dorms. She made her way to an officer's room. When she had arrived, she peeked into the room, making sure no one was there. Walking into the room, she spied the officer's 3DMG.

Double checking that no one was there she bent down and began the process of jamming the 3DMG. Using the knife, she weakened the cord of the 3DMG so it would snap from the force of the 3DMG. When that was done, she put the 3DMG where it was before. Michiyo got up and walked out the door, closing it in the process. She slipped the knife in her sleeve and went back to her room.

"Next time we use our 3DMG," She said happily, "I'll be able to get one of those pearl-handled knives!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Year 844, August 19th,**

 **Ayamu's PoV**

* * *

 **Hi readers! Thanks a lot for reading up to this point. There's going to be a lot about the black market reveled in this chapter. Please leave any comments or a like. Chapter 6:**

* * *

Hurrying down the dark street, Ayamu looked around for a symbol of a Blazing Dragon on the bottom left corner of a window. She had previously bought info on the black market of the outside world, the dealer had told her to look for a Blazing Dragon on the bottom left corner of a window. It was 2:00 ,making the search a tad difficult. precautions had to be made to ensure nobody would find out about her night treks.

"I've been all over this area and there's nothing." Ayamu muttered.

Ayamu worked as she walked, carving a new ring for herself. She couldn't use her old name in the underground because it was possible that people knew that Ayamu Yoshikuni was the Shadow Fox. Everyone knew on July 31st that four people were taken to the Survey Corps. On the same day, the Shadow Fox disappeared. Ayamu used weapons you could only get in the black market in order to stall the Survey Corps. While the others might have had weapons for the black market, two of them had died. Now the only two people that could possibly be the Shadow Fox were Levi and her. Everyone in the black market had known Levi had failed to obtain a document from Erwin. If Levi had been the Shadow fox, not only would he have not needed Isabel and Farlan, but he would have succeeded. It was clear that she was the Shadow Fox. One of the things about being a info broker is that you can't let anyone know your identity. Hoping that no one would recognize her, she had put on fake glasses and dyed her hair dark brown.

Just as Ayamu thought that she had wasted a bunch of money on invalid info, she passed a shop selling random trinkets with a dragon carved in the left corner of the window. Ayamu slipped on her new ring and entered the shop. When she stepped inside her first impression of it was that the shop was probably as old as the walls but made out of a much weaker material. The roof looked like it would collapse any moment and everything was coated in dust, including the old man that was sitting behind the counter.

"Hey," Ayamu said to the old man. She waved her hand with her new ring on it. Seeing the ring the man looked at her with new found curiosity.

"You're new," The old man remarked, "What's your name?" _God, that's the oldest trick in the book._

"The Crystal Phoenix." Ayamu replied. The old man looked slightly disappointed that she had not told him her real name. _Only newbies would fall for that._ Sighing, the old man got up. The dust around him collected around his feet. He led her to the back room, Ayamu covered her nose because of the overpowering smell of alcohol. Pushing aside the box, it revealed a trapdoor about a meter wide. The old man grasped a barely noticeable handle, painted the same color and pattern of the trap door, and lifted it up, revealing a ladder leading down to the black market. Climbing down, Ayamu expected to hear a market that was quiet and loud at the same time. Instead, the market was a room that was probably no larger than 15 by 15 meters. There were 5 people arguing over some price for 3DMG in the right corner. Covering a board on the wall parallel to Ayamu, were hundreds of posters, many overlapping each other. Ayamu moved closer to the board. Each poster listed the item, service, person they were selling (sometimes actioning) the starting price, and a date and time. Ayamu realized that black market in the above ground was done differently, instead of people setting up stalls and selling items on spot, the seller had a meeting time that they sold what they were selling.

"That's smart." Ayamu said to no one in particular. _That way the chances of them getting busted is minimized_. Ayamu fished her pockets for a piece of paper and a pencil, she found an old scouting report, flipped it over and wrote:

 _Contact in the Survey Corps. Going for 7 silver per report. August 26th, 11:49 pm._

Satisfied with what she wrote, she pinned the piece of paper on the board with a blunt dart. Ayamu turned around and headed to the ladder, climbing up she wondered if anyone would actually take her seriously. Taking one last look at the piece of paper, she wondered why she was still clinging on the slim hope, a hope that she was still alive. Ayamu turned back at the ladder, and continued to the surface.

Ayamu was able to get the the Survey Corps' dorm by 2:45. Climbing through the window, she was able to at least able to get in without anyone noticing, unless somebody had a habit of watching windows. Which Ayamu found highly unlikely.

Ayamu went to her bunk without making as much as a creak on the wooden floor boards. Floorboards always had a side that creaked, and one that didn't. She had a mental map in her mind where was safe and where was not that she edited and improved on in the morning, when nobody would pay attention to how she crossed the room. 10 years of practice had at least taught her that much.

Easing herself down to the bunk, she lied down and closed her eyes. She could barely feel the excitement of a plan that she had came up with 5 years ago finally come into play. It was a rough start, but more and more things were falling in place.

That night she fell asleep with a grin on her face.

* * *

 **Continuation of dream.**

 _Ayamu's hopes disappeared as soon as Michiyo disappeared down the hallway. She didn't struggle, she had given up a long time ago. Knowing she would probably never see her sister again, her only connection to this cruel world, she crumpled down to the floor of her cell._

 _Then, she felt something she thought she would never feel again._

" _No, not now." Ayamu nearly cried. The feeling of danger. The feeling something big and life-changing was going to happen. She thought she would never feel it again since the last request._

 _It came suddenly, first a calm before the storm. Then all at once the world she knew fell into havoc._

 _She didn't have time to register the growing cracks webbing across the wall, not even the time to hear the crash beyond the walls._

 _Just deafening noise one moment. The ceiling collapsed. She was smashed to the floor. Bits of rock and debris rained on top of her. A heavy weight crashed on her right leg._

 _Then it was over._

 _Feeling a mix of relief and horror, she looked up, barely daring herself to do so._

 _A Titan, towering 15 meters tall, was smiling down at her._

She would never see her beloved little sister again.

Ayamu stared up at the top her bunk. It was kind of funny really, she had that dream right after she had tried to reach out to her little sister. Not like she hadn't had the same dream for most of her life.

Today would be her first day of training as someone that wasn't an outcast in a squad. Since Levi was the leader of the squad, and Levi came from the same place as her, the others would be ignoring her as usual. Which Ayamu had still not decided whether that was a good thing or not.

Ayamu rolled over to pick up the notebook that she used as notes to remember on her black market duties. It had been almost three weeks since she had last taken a job. While it was stupid to leave her notes where anyone could pick it up and immediately figure out all her ambitions, then again, it was well known that she studied human anatomy so she could become skilled at combat. Ayamu designed the notebook in a way that at first glance, it would appear as her notes that she studied, but all the black market information was hidden in footnotes, labels, stuff that a normal person would overlook. So if anyone picked it up and was nosy enough to flip through it, they would just see normal notes and put it down. Quite literally, all of her secrets were hidden in plain sight. She opened the notebook and jot down:

 _Success at the perfect time where fantasies roar._

Ayamu looked at the sentence and was confident that no one would be able to figure out what she had wrote. She didn't think people would figure out 11:49 was the perfect time, or that 'Fantasies roar' was a Blazing Dragon. Getting up, Ayamu got dressed and figured that Levi would be out in the training fields since they would be meeting there in few minutes at 6. She slipped on a bracelet, made out of some animal's teeth, as a good luck charm.

Heading out to the training fields, Ayamu saw Levi leaning against a tree, staring at her as she walked to him. She could feel his eyes narrowing at her.

"So have you decided on a second in command yet?" Ayamu said in her most boring normal voice. Looking at his half sour half confused expression, Ayamu could barely choke back a laugh down her throat.

"*sigh* and why would a brat like you care?" Levi said in his usual monotone.

"Because I want to know the chances of the both of you dying on the next expedition."

Levi narrowed his eyes at her.

Right at the time, the clock struck 6. The squad gathered, and Ayamu merged in with the crowd.

"Okay," Levi said as boring as ever, "all of you are here then."

He studied the six of them. His eyes locked on a girl with golden brown hair tossed back in a braid.

"Kelsi, you'll be my second in command." Kelsi looked a bit shocked, but straightened up immediately.

"Hi." The girl next to Ayamu whispered in her ear. "I'm Rina." Looking down on Rina, she couldn't have been much taller than Levi. Maybe 5 foot 4. "Nice to meet you!" she continued, again in an hurried whisper.

"Today we'll be practicing hand-to-hand combat, Ayamu will _not_ be using any sort of explosive, gun, or whatever other thing she got from the black market." Ayamu wanted to punch Levi for knowing her that well.

At that time, Hanji ran into the training fields.

"Everybody!" Hanji shouted. "Erwin's gone missing! They left a ransom note signed from some called the 'Royals'!"

Ayamu perked up, finally, something had caught her attention. She could tell this was going to be interesting.


End file.
